


Encouragement and Elixirs

by TheDarkChocolateLord



Series: Keeptober 2020 [22]
Category: Keeper of the Lost Cities Series - Shannon Messenger
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Friendship, Gen, Lovise is a good bodyguard, but also not angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-03
Updated: 2020-11-03
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:47:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27362218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDarkChocolateLord/pseuds/TheDarkChocolateLord
Summary: A week after being rejected by Sophie, Dex gets a pep talk from Lovise.Written for Keeptober 2020 for the prompt 'Bodyguard'.
Relationships: Dex Dizznee & Lovise (Keeper of the Lost Cities)
Series: Keeptober 2020 [22]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1973125
Kudos: 5





	Encouragement and Elixirs

It's day  _ five  _ of trying to unlock Fintan's stupid cache, and the sight of the crystal-and-glass marble is starting to make Dex want to smash something.

To be fair, working with Bronte isn't as bad as he thought it would be; the Councillor who's notorious for his grumpiness is actually somewhat nice once you get to know him, and they both have a penchant for deeply snarky jokes. Still, they've tried everything from poring through old books for the right password to shouting nonsense words at the caches to having Bronte attempt to inflict on the glass marble to Dex spending hours with the cache and his notes from his Technopathy sessions, trying to find some way to break into it.

And each attempt results in  _ nothing, nothing, nothing. _

"Everything okay?" Lovise asks as Dex storms out of Bronte's castle later that evening.

"No progress on the caches,  _ again _ ," he grumbles as he pulls out his home crystal. "Let's just head back to Rimeshire."

Lovise doesn't argue as the two of them step into the light.

The moment they reappear on the stone path that leads to the front door, though, she turns to Dex and says, "You and I both know that it's not just the caches."

"It's not like it really matters," Dex mumbles as he heads for his house, not wanting to even  _ mention _ what happened with Sophie and the crush cuffs. Even though they agreed to be friends, the last little bits of hope he had are now  _ gone _ .

"You've been in a funk for the past week; of course it matters."

"And here I thought your title was bodyguard, not therapist," he jokes, trying to brush it off.

"Dex, if you don't feel comfortable telling me, talk to one of your parents, or even one of your friends—Sophie or someone. Wait. Didn't you go over to her house  _ right  _ before you—"

"Just stop it!" he shouts.

But a moment later, he looks back at his bodyguard, and at the oddly quiet and triplet-free area, and knows that now is as good as any time, and if he just gets it off his chest— "Fine. I gave Sophie crush cuffs that blocked her enhancing, and I put my name on them because….I kinda wanted to see if she'd wear them. And it just escalated from there. We didn't get mad at each other or anything, but—she kissed me. And it didn't turn out the way I thought it would. I know it's stupid but—"

"It's not stupid," Lovise jumps in. "And now I assume things are  _ very  _ awkward between the two of you?"

"She said she still wanted to be friends, but…."

"Dex, it's  _ normal  _ to feel disappointed when something you wanted doesn't work out. If you need space, that's normal as well. Trust me, Sophie is the same person, and she still wants to be your friend. And you're still the same awesome person you were last week. I know that being around her is probably super awkward for you now, and I don't blame you, rejection is terrible, but I also know that the two of you are still friends. Make sense?"

He wishes he'd never thought of the crush cuffs in the first place, wishes he'd never even  _ tried _ —but Lovise's words sink into him.

_ It's normal to feel disappointed when something you wanted doesn't work out. _

"Yeah," he admits.

"Good. Now, you're right, bodyguard doesn't mean therapist, and that was most of the emotional stuff I've got. So how about we go test out some of those crazy elixirs you've been brewing up in your lab at insane hours of the night?" 

"And by that you mean…."

Lovise grins. "I've always wanted to see how I'd look with really short hair. Or neon hair. Or both!"

Dex grins as they head for Rimeshire. "Bring it on."

  
  



End file.
